Who we think we are
by Frydolina
Summary: Who we are isn't dictated by looks, blood, fortune or our own free will. Who we really are becomes apperent by the decisions we make facing our enemy's wand. In their seventh and final year in Hogwarts, Lily Evans and James Potter are forced to get to know themselves and each other with a surprising coutcome.
1. Chapter 1

**My very first Harry Potter Story! Read and enjoy! And please don't be offended by poor grammar or spelling mistakes! My only excuse is that I'm no native speaker!**

 **Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing belongs to me and everything to JKRowling!**

 _Who we think we are_

Chapter 1

"Who do you think you are, girl?"

What a tough question for young Lily Evans! Who did she think she was? Teenage girl, young adult, student, waitress, witch, friend, sister, orphan? She didn't have the slightest clue.

"Oi, girl, I've asked you a question! Who do you think you are to meddle with my business? Can't a guy have a drink or two without other people commenting about it?"

Of cause he could. However, it was only two o'clock in the afternoon and the ragged middle-aged man had not consumed one or two but more likely about six or seven full glasses of firewhiskey. There were many things that could be said about Lily Evans but not that she was an irresponsible young woman. She took her given tasks very seriously which is why she had politely stated that her scruffy customer in the thick black woollen cloak with the fingerless black gloves half lying on her counter has had enough to drink for at least the rest of the day.

"I'm not quite able to answer your question to the whole extent, but what I can say is that I am most certainly your waitress for the evening and in this position, I can offer you a glass of water, a hot cocoa with or without cream or our home-made pumpkinjuice. You are drunk enough as it is and the Leaky Cauldron is not the right place to drink oneself into unconsciousness. The new Hogwarts year is starting soon and children are passing through every other minute. Therefore I kindly ask you to sober up or to leave the locality."

Working in the Leaky Cauldron throughout the summer holidays has proven to be a very good choice to spend the endless amount of days before Lily could finally return to school in a productive manner. It was a good thing to keep herself occupied and busy with work that forced her to focus on the many simple and manual tasks ahead and left no room to linger in dark thoughts. She never would have expected it, but after five weeks of lodging with Tom, the tooth- and hairless innkeeper, the dark and shabby pub felt almost a little like home. However, after her parents passed away last spring her expectations for a place to call "home" weren't very high to begin with.

A the sloppy drunk presented her his most venomous smirk. He had barely no teeth left but unlike Tom, the innkeeper, the man's upper and lower jaw still contained little brown and black rotten stumps where once his intact teeth would have been. And unlike Tom, his deformed grin contained no trace of kindness but mainly condescension. Suddenly, a grimy hand grabbed the front part of Lily's white apron, forcing her to become face to face with her offender. Within spitting distance, the drunken man smelled like stale urine and foul breath. Lily was about to reach for her wand which she always kept in reaching distance inside her little frilly apron pocket when somebody loudly called across the room. "Hey, you bastard! Get your filthy hands off of her!"

The drunken man turned is yellowish eye away from Lily's green ones towards the harsh voice's source.

"Don't see that this is your business, my lad!", the drunken man mumbled.

"Well, I don't agree!", said the newcomer and punched the other man directly into the face knocking him out cold. Lily stared at her saviour in bewilderment.

"What a pleasure to see your pretty face in this filthy dosshouse, Evans!", said Sirius Black.

He smiled his most enchanting smile at Lily and to common knowledge this was a gesture reserved for special occasions and few very lucky individuals only. Lily smiled back at him, for the first time in her life actually happy to see him.

"I wouldn't have thought it, but I'm strangely glad to see you too, Black! Thanks, by the way, even though your intervention wouldn't have been necessary."

Lily finally pulled her wand up from beneath the counter where she had quitted her intended wand movement of defence for the benefit of her unasked saviour to make sure he knew that his assistance was indeed not needed.

"Yeah, I know that you can take care of yourself, Evans! I mean, you are a feisty little fighter, no offence! I like that in you!", Sirius said and winked at her with a mischievous sparkle in his light grey eyes.

Over the summer holidays Lily had almost forgotten how ridiculously handsome he was, but now standing in front of her clearly in one of his better moods and with the intention of twisting her around his little finger, she suddenly remembered why he was so immensely popular with all the other girls. It wasn't his aristocratic rebel look that made the girls swoon, but the fact that he distributed his attention only to those worthy of his time which was what made the merest acknowledging nod seem like a rare and precious gift coming from him. Many girls and women around the country were willing to pay a high price for his attention. However Lily Evans was not one of his many admirers. She found him to be rather arrogant and she wasn't a person who could be impressed by good looks only.

"Well, can I offer you an exploding lemonade for your services?"

"Exploding lemonade - what would that be?", a doubtful Sirius asked.

"Well, the name sums it up quite nicely! Every sip is a taste explosion! Want to try it?"

"Not really, thanks! I'd much rather have a glass of firewhiskey!"

Lily looked sternly at him.

"Just kidding, darling! I mean, there are children passing through every other minute at this time of the day!", said Sirius while winking at her. "So tell me, what in Merlin's name are you doing behind this counter?"

Before Lily could answer to this question, a group of three young man came stumbling through the front door which connected the wizarding pub with the muggle part of London. All three newcomers were laughing loudly at a joke that the tallest of the three had clearly made only seconds ago.

"And then he said – and I swear, I myself couldn't believe the exact extent of his stupidity – he said: well, I have to talk to my wife fist, but I'll think about your offer! Flubberworms do sound to be quite fascinating pets! I mean – flubberworms – honestly!" The other two young man roared with laughter about the anecdote the young man named James Potter had just told them while the bespectacled jokester himself seemed to be quite smug about his last coup.

"Hey Prongs! Over here guys!", Sirius called out to the group. James and the other two boys turned around searching for the voice calling them up.

"Padfoot! What are you already doing in here? We agreed to meet outside! We thought you got lost or something!", James said while making his way through the dimly lit room towards the pub's bar. Recognizing the group of people who had just entered, Lily turned around quickly and pretended to polish some glasses. She had no intention of making small talk with James Potter and the whole lot of his friends while wearing the hideous apron that was part of her work outfit. Actually, she had no intention of making conversation with them whatsoever.

"Nah, heard some voices an thought I'd better take a look at what was going on in here! As I might say, a very wise decision! I came to rescue this beautiful young lady from her ugly tormentor!"

Sirius laughed at his friend while gesturing towards the unconscious drunk to his feet.

"Sure you haven't started with the firewhiskey without us, Padfoot? I see no Lady in danger!", the smallest of the group asked. He was the only one of the four friends who wasn't tall and lean but rather plumb.

Sirius laughed his very own bark-like laughter.

"I'm quite sure, Wormtail! Evans, hey Evans! Turn around and show us your face!"

Lily simply couldn't hide between her dirty glasses and empty bottles anymore. Sighing, she turned around of her hiding place in the shadow to face the four boys.

"Welcome to the Leaky Chauldron! What can I do for you guys?", she said with a rather fake smile.

Three mouths fell open and three pair of eyes looked at her incredulously.

A very thin and sickly looking boy, who appeared to be much older than only 17 was the first one to find his voice.

"Oh, hello to you too, Lily! What a surprise to see you here!", said Remus Lupin

"Hey Evans!", little Peter Pettigrew mumbled somehow still confused.

"I always thought there was this guy who runs the pub! Tim, no, Tom it was or something like that. Wasn't it, guys? The bloke who had no teeth left!"

"Don't worry Pettigrew, Tom is still the landlord, I simply work here during the holidays!", Lily answered the boy's question.

James Potter was the last to come out of his stupor. "What the hell Evans, this is really no place for you to be!"

"Thanks for your concern Potter, but I think I can decide for myself were I like to be and where not!"

Sirius, still leaning lazily at the counter pulled one eyebrow up as Lily made her statement.

"Well, I've just seen something else! Nice company you keep here, trying to choke you or even worse!" At this news, James begin to look alarmed.

"Who choked her?"

"This guy!", Sirius said while kicking the unconscious man behind his bar stool with his foot. "But I took care of it! I rescued you like a knight in shining armour, didn't I, Evans!"

Lily murmured something unintelligible to herself.

"What did you just say, Evans?", asked Sirius while smiling impertinently.

Lily looked at him annoyed and put her hands to her hips – a habit of hers that expressed increasing annoyance.

"I said: Yes, Black, you are my hero of the day! Now, please guys, I have a lot of guest right now and unlike you actual work to do so please let me be and do whatever you came here to do!"

With that Lily turned around and left the counter to wait on her other guests. She took extra time taking the orders and having some polite chit-chat with those who seemed nice enough to have a little talk with. By the time she was finished with her round, her four classmate were gone. Lily was glad for it. Still, it had been nice to see a few well-known faces for a change. She was really looking forward to the beginning of the new school year in less than a week from that day on.

Sirius, Remus, Peter and James left the pub through the back door as it became evident that Lily wouldn't come back to them and found themselves standing in a chilly courtyard full of empty cardboard boxes, wooden barrels and loaded dustbins.

"Well, what a surprise it must have been for you, James! You've gotten your daily dose of Evans and school hasn't even started yet!", Sirius, clearly amused.

James couldn't laugh about his friends comment. He was fuming

"Yeah, surprise indeed! Why did you have to play the hero, Padfoot? Couldn't you have waited for a minute or so to let me help her too?"

"Sorry, mate, the situation called for my immediate attention! Or would you rather have her felt up by that ugly bastard?"

James only shook his head in response, still annoyed.

"C'mon guys, stop the bickering!", Remus brought them to reason.

"We have more important things to do! Padfoot will let you play the hero next time James, won't you Padfoot?"

"I quite liked myself in that role, but yeah, I defer to you the next time, Prongs!"

"Yeah, right! Let's go guys!", James said and tapped the bricks in the wall in front of him in an anti-clockwise order, causing the bricks to rearrange themselves into the entrance to the famous Diagon Alley. The four friends spend the rest of the day happily strolling around the cobblestoned wizarding shopping street. Only one of them was a little ill-humoured. James Potter simply hated the fact, that Lily Evans seemed to like each and everyone of his friends better than James himself.

 **I hope you had fun reading the first chapter! I would be eternally grateful for a short review!**

 **Yours, Julia**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me and almost all to JKRowling ! I hope you like Chapter 2!**

Chapter 2

The rest of the days until the new school year was to begin passed without much excitement for Lily. She spend most of her time in the grubby downstairs of the pub in order to wine and dine every guest who stopped by for a drink or two or maybe some of the Leaky Cauldron's famous "Leaky House Soup", a spicy brownish dish served for three Sickles only. Some of the pub's guests were very obnoxious and rude while others were quite nice and turned out to be an enjoyable company for Lily. Many had exceptionally interesting stories to tell from foreign places and even more foreign magic. On one rather slow evening in the pub, Lily made the acquaintance of a very beautiful witch named Rania who lodged in one of the the the unexpectedly nice rooms upstairs of the pub right next to the small chamber were Lily lived while working for Tom. Rania was from Morocco and wanted to launch her own line of charmed amulets in London. Needless to say that Lily was quite taken by ornamented and engraved silver jewellery. To her great disappointment, 17 galleons per piece was a price too high for her to shoulder.

While enyoing her time working for Tom, Lily was after all still glad to go back to school by the first of September. It would be nice to have a person beside Tom around for more than two or three days in a row to talk and relate to for Rania had left early after spending three nights in the pub with the promise to write to Lily the moment she arrived back home in Casablanca.

On her very last evening in the Leaky Cauldron at least for that summer, Lily over-carefully packed all her belongings together while watching the minutes ticking by on her little nightstand clock. There was a baking sheet of ginger cookies in the oven for Tom for Lily wanted to give something back for all of the kindness she had received, even though it was something as trivial as home-baked cookies. Everyone knew that the current situation for muggleborns was very tense. Not many had the heart and the courage to employ someone with a questionable blood status. Quite a few old friends and companions of Tom's had declared him to be insane for taking in someone like Lily. Tom and Lily both knew about the risks he undertook by letting her stay in the small chamber with no charge beside her workforce. Thankfully, nothing apart from the occasional rampage with the dustbins in the little courtyard had happened while Lily stayed with Tom that could express any discomfort with the fact that a muggleborn was serving drinks in one of the most popular wizarding establishments in England.

Smiling a little to herself, Lily put her shiny dark red badge with the large embroidered "H" as the final item on top of her neatly folded clothes and closed her large trunk.

The next day James, Sirius, Remus and Peter found themselves sitting in one of the comfortable compartments of the large red Hogwarts Express stream engine.

"Padfoot, I told you to draw the curtains! Can't you do me this one favour?"

"Actually James, I can't! How in Merlin's name can anything interesting happen while we are trapped inside this stupid compartment without a clue what is going on in the corridors! These train rides used to be our chance to welcome the new school year with some light entertainment but it seems that our traditions mean nothing to you, now that you've been made Head Boy!", Sirius grimaced while stressing the word "Head Boy" very unpleasantly. Sirius was like a brother to James but he could be a nasty little bugger at times.

"Sorry to ruin you fun Padfoot, but I am in actual distress right now! I have no bloody idea what to do! For a fact, I could't even tell you who last year's Head Boy was let alone what on Agrippa's wand he acutally did as such! Dumbledore is a right dotard to choose me of all people!", James answered while tearing at his already messy black hair.

"Oh, c'mon James! A Head Student is chosen because of his or her academic achievement, outstanding reputation as a student, and honest, good, and hard-working personality. Dumbledore would never make you Head Boy if he wasn't sure that you combine all these attributes!", said Remus in order to comfort his friend. "I'm sure you'll do just fine!" Remus was a the one to count on when in want of reassuring advice.

"Moony, did you memorize a Hogwarts brochure or something?", Peter laughed. He took a bite from his pumpkin pie with relish.

"Prong!", he smacked, "Since your cruel fate has decided it, think of all the good things that come with it! You could tell us the password for the prefect's bathroom! I'm really looking forward to..."

"Oh, nonsense!", cried a short-tempered Sirius. "He'll become a total bore and spoilsport with that badge pinned to his chest! Your downfall has already started last year, Prongs! The whole summer you've been moping around for no apparent reason! I guess that was only the beginning of what we have to deal with now!"

At this, James lifted his head from it's former pose inside of his hands. Sirius was right. He had been in a bad mood all summer. However, James simply couldn't tell his friends the reason behind his mysterious mood swings. All of them, even gentle Remus, would call him a complete wimp if they ever found out that the death of Lily's parents had saddened him, too. Hell, he himself thought that he had lost quite a bit of masculinity in the course of the last months. Still, it hurt to see Lily that sad. Sometimes he asked himself if he was the only one who cared enough to take a look behind the cheerful facade Lily put up to humor her classmates and teachers. It seemed as if she had everybody else fooled. But not James. He noticed every single time her eyes at were slightly red at breakfast from crying the night before and often found her to be quite withdrawn and absent-minded. Nothing that James ever tried could spirit her up and he began to miss their arguments and fiery banter more than he liked to admit.

"Oh, shut up, Padfoot!" James made a rude gesture toward Sirius and turned in direction of his other two friends.

"Moony, I need your help! You were a prefect for the last two years, you should know how these things pass off!" Remus exhaled loudly while being addressed by his bespectacled friend.

"I've already told you what to do, James!" Remus was sprawled out over at least two of the red cushioned compartment seats and sighed heavily while rubbing the bridge of his nose. The current topic seemed to tire him very much or maybe it was just the aftermath of the last full moon a couple of days ago. Remus wasn't quite sure who or what was to blame for his throbbing forehead.

"First of all, go and meet the Head Girl! Talk to her about what you want to tell the prefects! Divide them into small groups to patrol the train corridors! End the meeting! Come back here!" Remus wanted nothing more than this conversation to end. He really had a very bad headache.

"Sounds easy enough minus the fact that the Head Girl is Lily Evans and that she has no idea that I was made Head Boy! Spices the situation up a bit, don't you think?" They knew that James' partner for that year would be Lily Evans, because they had already suspected it and in order to be sure had asked everyone in their circle of acquaintances for nearer information. Dorcas Meadows, a member of James' Quidditch team and also a room mate of Lily's had given the final evidence.

"Well, you could always stay in this compartment with us and miss the first meeting! Would be interesting to see how things turn out that way!"

"Urrghh!", groaned a deeply frustrated James. "If I'm not back in three hours, send a search party after me!"

"We will, James, Marauder's word of honour!", Peter promised and wiped away the last crumbs of his pie from the right corner of his mouth with his thumb.

"Good luck!", was the only thing Remus had left to say before closing his eyes to ease his headache.

"Take care to give everyone in a good mood at least a month of detention! Wouldn't want to make a bad first impression, would you, Prongs?" Sirius called after James, who finally got up to meet his fate.

James braced himself while slowly opening the sliding door of the prefects compartment. There she was - Lily Evans. Her face was turned away from him for she was looking out of the train's window so that he could only identify her by her dark red and shiny long locks. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat to announce his presence. Lily turned around quickly, startled by the unanticipated intruder.

"Potter! What on earth are you doing here?"

There it was, the dreaded question. James felt his hand automatically wander to his head, nervously messing the tousled shock of hair up even more than nature already had.

"Well, you see... ", began James.

"Truth is... I'm kind of the new Head Boy!"

Lily just stared at him, her green eyes wide open. James felt himself being slowly seized with panic.

"I know, okay? I know that I'm the last person you expected to come through this door right now and I know you think that I'm the last person on earth who should have been made Head Boy! I think so too, alright? But Evans...Lily... I also know how much this means to you! I promise, I'll do my best to make the most out of the situation and I promise that I won't ruin this for you!"

James paused and looked directly into Lily's sceptical face to show that he was telling her the truth.

Lily only blinked a few times with her long dark lashes. James noticed, that her face seemed to be a little narrower than it had been a couple of weeks before. Maybe she had lost some weight over the summer. The new discovery worried him.

"Ok, Potter."

James couldn't believe her.

"Okay? You are okay with this? With me being your partner for this year?"

"I guess so!"

James slowly took a seat across from Lily's and let her words sink in. She was okay with it. Lily was okay with him being Head Boy alongside her. She wasn't screaming or crying nor was she hexing him with some painful yet inventive curse or scratching his eyes out with her bare hands.

"You do know that as Head Boy and Head Girl we will share our own private common-room, don't you?"

"So I've been informed!"

"And you also know that we will see each other more often in order to plan the prefects schedule and do whatever Head Boys and Girls do?"

"I know!"

"And that we will patrol the castle at night for at least two evenings per week?"

"I am aware of that, too!"

James was stunned to silence by her lack of discomposure.

"Look, Potter! I honestly don't care too much. I would be happy if you could refrain from putting any more obstacles than necessary in my way. If you don't... well... I'll have to learn how to deal with it."

"Oh, okay, fine! Then I would suggest that we start to plan today's schedule for patrolling the train?" Lily attempted a smile.

"Yes, let's get it started!"

An hour and a half later, James returned to his friends' compartment and let himself drop on one of the plushy train seats. Only Remus and Peter were present while Sirius had left a while ago to search for something to do to escape his own boredom. Remus and Peter instantly lunged at James before he could even adjust his pair of glasses.

"James, how did the meeting go?", Remus asked with pressing interest.

"So far so good? We planned the prefects schedule for today. By the way, Remus, it's yours and Stanley Huggerson's turn to patrol the train in an hour from now. You know Stanley? The bloke from Hufflepuff with the jug ears!" Remus only nodded keenly at this.

"I know Stanley! But tell us about what Lily had to say to your announcement!"

"Oh, she said she was okay with me being Head Boy!"

"But James, that's great! Or isn't it?", Peter tossed in from his place beside the compartment door.

"I don't know. Maybe. I guess so! She just seemed to be a little off as if she simply didn't care at all! They could have partnered her up with Snivellus or the Giant Squid and she wouldn't have complained!"

"Well, good for you, mate!", Peter patted him on the shoulder.

"Yeah... good for me!" James wasn't quite sure about that.

 **With the best wishes, Julia**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I am still not JKRowling !**

Chapter 3

"James, hey! James, wake up!"

Someone pulled the blanket off of the still half asleep James Potter. The cold rush of air finally awakened his senses and he blinked sleepily into the morning light.

"Mhhmm... Moony, stop it! It's too way too early!" Indeed it was.

"I know that, James! Hey, don't close your eyes again! This is not over yet!"

James felt something very cold and wet making contact with his face. Suddenly, he was wide awake and looking at Remus' tip of the wand, from which his friend hat splashed cold water mercilessly into James' face.

"Moony, you miserable mule! Stop it!"

Remus ceased to pour water at James still drowsy face and changed his tactic into poking his wand painfully into James' pyjama-clad chest.

"Then get out of bed and tell me why you are here!"

"Oww!", James complained while wiggling away from the piece of wood pressed to his upper body.

"I'm here because I wanted to get some bloody sleep!"

"No, tell me why you are getting your sleep here instead of your own bed in your own Common Room.

James only looked blankly into his friend's disgruntled face. It was simply too early and his brain didn't yet function at it's normal rate.

"Ahhh... That's what you are getting at!" Finally, James understood what Remus had meant.

He pulled the heavy curtains aside and lifted himself out of the comfortable four-poster bed. The dormitory was very cold that morning and you could feel that the warm summer nights were a thing of the past.

"Well, see... I just wanted to start this year as we started the last six years! Tradition, if you take my meaning! Didn't want to disappoint Sirius again! That's why I sneaked in last night after you lot went to bed." James slightly flinched from lying directly into his friend's face. Truth to be told, he had spend the night roaming the Hogwarts grounds and snatching some leftover food from the welcoming feast in the kitchen to avoid going to the Head Common Room were he belonged. At the end, he had decided to tiptoe into his old dorm in the Gryffindor Tower and fell asleep in the very same bed that had been his for almost six years.

"Yeah, right! You were afraid to spend the whole evening alone with Lily! Truly, James, get your butt out of this room and into your own before everybody else wakes up! Or do you want Lily to know that you fled from her?"

"Okay, okay! I'll go! But first let me snatch my robes! Great friend, you are!"

"You know that you'll thank me later!"

James was very glad that Peter, Sirius and Frank Longbottom, the fifth male seventh year Gryffindor, had a really deep sleep and he sincerely hoped that Lily wasn't an early riser like Remus was. Otherwise he would have some explaining to do.

After Remus had finally pushed James out of the dormitory, the latter made his way to his new home for that year. There was no need for James to go far because the Head Tower was, like the Gryffindor Tower, located on the seventh floor of the castle.

While walking down the seventh floor corridor, he made small talk with a suit of armour he was particularly fond of, a swordsman who had an impressive repertoire of swearwords and who most likely was possessed by a ghoul or spirit based on the fact that suits of armour generally didn't talk or rather swear back. But soon enough, James stood in front of the portrait which he knew to guard the Head Tower.

The entrance to the Head Common Room was carefully watched by the notorious portrait of Reginald Hartachus, a wizarding author of romantic poetry who, given his portrait, lived in the early 19th century. Reginald scribbled furiously on a very long piece of parchment and made no intention of laying aside his long and elegant swan's quill in order to pass James.

"Crrrm, crmmm...", James cleared his throat. Sill, Reginald paid him no attention.

"Umm... Hello? Could you let me in, please?", he asked cautiously.

As a result, Reginald finally looked graciously up from his writing. His face was distorted by displeasure.

"I'm not yet sûr et certain about that! I am very engaged by my création artistique! But, as I am an obliging fellow, I'll let you in if you listen to the first draft of my dernier poème! Oh, and of cause I need you to tell me the correct password, s'il te plaît!"

"Oh...ehmmm...Okay!", James nodded, a little bewildered. "Spill!" He thought that Reginald's faux french accent was rather hideous to listen to.

"Alright, mon brocard! But keep in mind, it is only the first stage of a procédure lourde that every piece of art has to undergo to be de première force!" Reginald unrolled his piece of parchment and began to read:

"Mon armour, you beautiful sight,

under the starry summer's night!

Oh, come, chérie, I'll hold you steady!

You and I, we both are ready!

Feel that my love is true,

the only one pour moi is you!"

James exhaled slowly. "Honestly, I think it's quite...poetical?"

"That's all you have to say? Sorry, I can't interrupt mon déroulement de travail for that!"

"No, you've just... I'm quite... You simply left me speechless!" It was the second time for that morning that James had told a patent lie.

"Mais bien sûr, dear boy! Young people are always very moved by my work! I like to think that is because they have not yet passed the stage of youthful..."

"Bouncing Blubs!" James simply had to interrupt him. He really needed to be inside of his room before Lily woke up and to notice his absence.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Bouncing Bulbs! It's the password! Now, could you please open up?"

"Alright!" Finally the portrait of Reginald Heartachus swung open for the purpose of letting James climb through the round hole in the castle's brickwork. "Unrefined ruffian!", was what James heard Reginald calling after him.

The Head Tower really was quite nice, James though while standing in the middle of the round Common Room that he had to share with no other person but Lily. It reminded him greatly of the Gryffindor Tower, although that might be because both of it's inhabitants were Gryffindors. He wondered if the Common Room would be decorated differently if the Head Students were Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs. He couldn't for the life of him picture a Slytherin being Head Boy or Girl. James was about to make his way to one of the impressive belfry windows to take a look at the grounds below when he heard something rustling in one of the comfortable looking red wing chairs in front of the fireplace. James inwardly gowned as Lily's head appeared from behind the backrest.

"Potter, where have you been all night?" Her green eyes seemed to pierced right through him.

"Evans! What are you doing up this early?"

"I couldn't sleep and decided to study a bit before breakfast!", Lily answered while crossing her arms irritatedly in front of her chest.

"Classes have not even started yet!" As always, she had him completely bewildered.

"I'm doing a bit of independent studying! By the way, I asked you a question first!"

"Well, I couldn't sleep as well and went to the owlery to send a letter to my family!" Lie number three for that morning.

Lily raised her eyebrows in question. "I've been sitting here for two and a half hours! That must have been quite a heavy letter for it to need that much time to send off!" James was sure that Lily knew he was lying.

"Yeah, well, maybe I lost track of time! That happens eventually, you know!", he said to fend her off.

"If you say so!" With that Lily turned her attention back to her book.

Again, she pretended that she didn't care. James couldn't accept it that time.

"What are you reading anyway – as an independent study?"

Lily took some time before answering his question.

"Oh, well, just some muggle stuff, you know?" Now he had her in the defensive position for she acted as if he had caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Muggle stuff? Why would you do that?"

"It might not seem important to you, but I'd like to be thoroughly educated! It's a book about evolutionary biology, for your information!" Quite cross, Lily closed her book, making the covers loudly smash together .

"Don't get angry with me, I didn't mean it like that! I only thought with you being a muggleborn there wouldn't be much left to learn for you! So you are interested in biology?"

"Among other things!" Lily pursed her lips. "I want to keep up at least to some extent with the muggle curriculum. At times like these, you never know what might happen!"

"Don't you think that's a little too pessimistic?" James smiled to himself at her need to be perfectly prepared for every single possibility in life.

"No, I don't! If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go for a swim in the prefects' bathroom!" With that, Lily crawled out from under her blanket and rose to leave the Head Tower. "See you at the prefects' meeting tonight!"

"Yeah, see you!", James called, wishing he could take a swim with her.

The rest of the first day back at school passed uneventfully. Right after dinner Lily stood up from her house's table to leave early for the little assembly room on the third floor directly behind the charms corridor in which the prefects' meetings were held. She was the first to arrive but was glad for it because she wanted to go through her plans for that evening's meeting before the other 23 prefects appeared. 15 minutes before the meeting was to begin, she heard someone running in the corridor right outside of the prefects' meeting room. The footfalls were slowing down in direct reach of Lily's whereabouts. "Of cause!", she thought, as other than James Potter bolted trough the door thoroughly out of breath.

"Am I too late?", he puffed out.

Lily looked at him incredulously! "No, actually, you are too early! Nobody besides us has arrived yet!"

"Oh, thank Merlin!", exclaimed James and let himself sink on one of the hard wooden chairs arranged around the large oval table in the middle of the room.

"Wouldn't want to miss this for the world, would I?" He smiled his toothy smile at her.

Before Lily would answer, someone else entered the meeting room. As her bad fate willed, it was Severus Snape, Lily's former childhood friend and seventh year prefect.

"What a coincidence!", Lily thought. She herself tented to avoid every accidental meeting with Severus and she could very well imagine what might happen if he and James came together in a small enclosed space. The scenario wasn't pretty. The two boys deeply hated each other for reasons unknown to Lily.

"Lily, I am glad to find you alone! I wanted to congratulate you...!", began Severus.

"Pitty, Snape, that she isn't alone! I've arrived here before you!" James disrupted him from his seat in the middle of the room.

Snape, however, could only look at his rival confoundedly. Although he and Lily weren't friends anymore, she felt herself sympathize with the lanky and gaunt looking boy frozen solid in the doorway. She wished he would have cared enough to at least wash his long black and straggly hair before going into public. It would have given him a slightly better start position in the combat Lily knew was to come. With his ragged black clothes, prominent nose and odd behaviour, he laid himself open enough for attacks by his many tormentors as it was.

"Potter!", Severus spat out. "This is the prefects' meeting room! You have no business here!" Lily noticed her old friend's black eyes immediately turning icecold as his gaze turned from her towards the now standing James.

"Funny, you mentioned that! Thing is, I'm the new Head Boy! If you'd be so kind to leave and close the door behind you, Lily and I need some alone time! Otherwise I might try to take some points from you! Poor Slytherin, running a deficit on the first day of school!", James answered nastily while making his way to stand directly next to Lily and putting his arm around her shoulder.

Before Lily could grasp what was happening, Severus had already left the room with his clock waving behind him.

"Severus! Severus, wait!" Lily, called after him and chased him to the door. Yet, the corridor was empty and Severus nowhere to be seen.

She turned around to face James, who was still standing in the middle of the room, looking quite smug. Stupid, bullying, arrogant Dugbog!

"That was totally uncalled for, Potter!" Lily had a hard time controlling her temper. James, too, looked angry now.

"Sorry, I didn't know that you and Snivelly suddenly were best buddies again!"

"We aren't! But that doesn't mean that you have to be a complete prick every time he crosses your path! You are Head Boy, for god's sake! He is one of your prefects! Get over your own ego and snap out of it!"

"Fine, whatever!"

Their argument came to an end by the first group of Hufflepuff prefects entering the meeting room.

Lily tried to calm herself down and forget about what had just happened. She greeted the prefects with her best fake smile.

After the the initial bad start, the meeting went on just fine. However, Lily noticed a particular mean looking group of Slytherin prefects staring spitefully at her for no evident reason. Severus never came back after he had left. Lily really hoped that James hadn't scared him away for good.

It was true that she and Severus weren't friends anymore, but still, he had come to her parents' funeral in spring and she gave him great credit for that. He had stayed in the background and didn't talk to her or any of anyone, actually, but it had felt good that at least one person had come to support her. Most of the others who came to the funeral were Petunia's friends or family of her fiancé Vernon. Apart from a hand full of distant relatives to whom she had no relationship, Lily was on her own and felt very lonely on that rainy grey day in March. Therefore, the restrained and silent presence of Severus had mean a lot to her for she knew that he must have had some trouble leaving the school in the middle of the term.

After Lily and James had ended the meeting, she stayed behind to pack her things together while everyone else gushed out of he room. James, too, left as quickly as he could. They were still mad at each other.

"Stupid little mudblood whore! Only an old simpleton like Dumbledore would make someone like her Head Girl!" Lily raised her head from her shoulder back. She thought that it had to be Dolohov's voice talking, a six year Slytherin prefect.

"Well, trust me, we'll deal with that!", answered the voice that she recognized as Avery's, one of Severus friends and classmates.

Lily waited for them to leave the corridor before she herself made her way back to the Head Tower. As she was almost there, she decided against returning to her room and to Potter, whom she presumed to be in the Head Common Room. She turned around and made her way back to the kitchens. The sick feeling in her stomach that resulted from the overheard conversation needed soothing by some hot cocoa.

 **I hope you enjoyed chapter 3! Let me know what you think and review!**

 **Yours, Julia**


	4. Chapter 4

**The credit for this story goes to JKRowling , who owns most oft the content!  
**

 **Have fun reading chapter 4!**

Chapter 4

The following weeks passed quite uneventfully. Lily and James both refrained from bringing up their argument from the first day of school again. They tried to avoid each other as much as possible in their living quarters and otherwise worked quite professionally together in their role as Head Boy and Girl. But while Lily was pleasantly surprised by this development, James wasn't very happy with how things between the two of them stood. They were living side-by-side in an unspoken agreement not to interact beside the occasional encounter for the sake of their work related duties. Unlike Lily, who liked to spend her time either in the library or in their Common Room to read for pleasure or for educational purposes, James was very often seen in the Gryffindor Common Room spending his time with his group of friends to avoid the tense situation in the Head Tower.

On one particular cold and grey day at the end of October James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting in their usual room corner and enjoying a game of exploding snap.

"Well guys, nothing against you or exploding snap, but I am rather bored!", Sirius said while leaning over his chair's armrest and eyeing a group of girls on the other side of the room. A bored Sirius was never a good thing.

"Good for you, Padfoot, that tonight will be interesting enough!", Peter snickered while brushing the ash from his forehead. His deck of cards had just exploded, disguising him in an ash cloud.

"Peter!", Remus hissed. "There is no need to draw everyone's attention to us! You never know who might listen!" Remus was always overcautious to keep his secret confidential in fear of stigmatisation for his lycanthropy. He couldn't bear the fear and disgust that he was so sure would appear in his classmates eyes if they knew about his condition.

James only looked back and forth between his friends taken aback.

"Oh shit! It's full... It's that time of the month!"

Sirius laughed loudly at that. "Good one, Prongs!"

James, however, had other things on his mind.

"I've completely forgotten that we had... plans for tonight! I thought it would be next week!"

"That's what they all say, and then, nine month later, you are in big trouble, if you know what I mean!" Peter winked at him.

"Nice, Wormy!", congratulated Sirius while still laughing. Peter was by then also roaring with laughter from his own joke.

"That's not funny, guys! Evans is going to kill me! We are on patrol duty together for tonight! I'd better go and tell her that I can't accompany her! Maybe she can find someone else!"

Remus took hold of James' cloak before he could bolt out of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Wait a minute, James! We can go alone tonight! With Padfoot there to watch over me, we can manage on our own, really! It's great to have you there, but you know that it is actually Sirius who can... keep me in control." The last part of the phrase was whispered by Remus.

"And miss out on all the fun? I don't think so! Beside, these night-time patrols only sound good in theory! There is nothing romantic really in strolling around for hours to no end in empty and cold corridors with nothing happening but the occasional spider crossing your path. And Evans isn't exactly the entertaining type as well, being completely silent apart from saying 'hello' and 'good night'!"

With that, James released himself from Remus' grip and went out of the portrait of the fat Lady who was guarding the Gryffindor Common Room to tell Lily about his change of plans.

At first, James tried his luck in the Head Common Room, but Lily wasn't there. He found her in the library - his second assumption - reading a very think and ancient looking book about the origin of ancient runes. He silently made his way towards the table were Lily was reading at high concentration. She looked up from her work when he leaned against her tabletop.

"Potter, what can I do for you?", she asked him coldly.

James had to try very hard to keep his hands from rumpling up his hair. He knew that Lily hated this habit of his, but hell, he was nervous about her reaction on what he had to say.

"Evans, I came to talk to you about our patrol tonight!"

"What about it?", Lily sternly asked, tapping her finger on the tabletop in a rhythmic manner. The small gesture irritated James greatly.

"I'm busy tonight. I'm sorry that I've forgotten to tell you, but I already have other quite important plans! Can you patrol without me?"

"Without you?" Lily put a quill in the middle of her book as a reading mark and closed the large volume. "I don't think that this is possible!", she said. "We are to patrol at least in groups of two under all circumstances!"

"C'mon Evans, can't you make an exception just this once? Maybe someone else could fill in for me! I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't really important!"

Lily stared directly at him, her expression giving no clue on what she was thinking.

"Well, I could always ask Hagrid, I guess!" It would be nice to spend some time with the gentle half-giant, she thought. The new school year kept Lily permanently occupied with Head Duties or school work. She already had a bad conscience for declining on one of Hagrid's famous tea invitations. Maybe she could catch up with her huge friend that night.

"Great, Evans, you are the best! Thank you! And see you tomorrow!" With that, James flashed her a wide grin hand jogged out of the library.

Just before dinner, Lily waited in the Entrance Hall beside the huge portal which was the doorway to the Great Hall for Hagrid to partake his meal. Soon enough, she spotted his enormous figure standing out from the masses of the students rolling in to have their supper.

"Hagrid! Hey, Hagrid! Down here!" Lily waved her hand and jumped a little up and down to catch Hagrid's attention.

"Lily, what are yeh doin' down there?"

Lily smiled warm heartedly at the bearded colossus. "I was waiting for you, Hagrid!"

"Wha' could be so important that yeh'd wait for me here instead of comin' to me hut after dinner?", Hagrid asked her apprehensively.

"I have a favour to ask you, Hagrid! Are you available tonight? Potter has stood me up and I am on my own to patrol the castle tonight. Normally, I wouldn't mind but at the moment I am somehow a little jumpy."

"James ditched yeh? That don' sound like 'im! 'M sorry, Lil', but I have ter be on the grounds ternight, with it bein' full moon an' all! 'M really sorry though!"

"Ah, it's okay, Hagrid! I'm sure I'll find someone to help me out!"

together, they made their way into the Great Hall, animatedly chatting until they had to part in order for Lily to take her usual seat beside Marlene McKinnon while Hagrid went to the front of the hall to sit at the long staff table.

"Hey Lily, you look worried!", greeted Marlene when Lily sat on the bench beside her. "Here, have some hot pumpkin juice!"

Marlene was one of the few that Lily could call a close friend of hers. With her good natured eyes and curly blond hair, she was more of a quite type than Lily. Still, the two became close friends throughout the years, even tough Lily was outgoing and quite popular while Marlene liked to stay quietly in the background. They simply complemented each other very well was what Lily always thought when people wondered about the diverging pair.

"Hey, Marlene! No, not worried, just... annoyed! Potter stood me up on our patrol tonight!"

Marlene looked at her friend sympathetically. "Oh, no, I'm so sorry, Lily! I wish I could help you, but I'm not even a prefect! The won't let me out at night!"

"Oh, don't worry! But thanks for feeling with me anyway!"

"Of cause! Though I'd really like to know what was so important that Potter would miss on the opportunity to spend the whole night alone with you!"

"I don't know! Maybe he and his friends have planed a round of spin the bottle with some third years or something! And to my relief, he isn't that eager anymore to spend time with me! You might have noticed that he tries to escape me by spending all of his free time in your Common Room instead of our mutual place."

"I can hardly believe that, Lily!"

"That's because you are the most good natured witch on earth!

"Lily!", Marlene rolled her eyes at her red-headed friend but blushed a little in spite of her pretended annoyance.

"Ok, but at least in Hogwarts!", Lily winked at her.

At that, the two girls burst out in a hearty laugh.

Later that evening, Lily began her patrol duty for the night. The shift started quite uneventfully. A few minutes past 10 o'clock Lily walked through the draughty third floor hallway leading to the trophy room when she suddenly stood nose to nose with Argus Flich, the at that moment very agitated caretaker.

Flich grunted something unintelligible as an acknowledgement to her. "Oh, good, you are here! I was just about to send Mrs. Norris to fetch someone!", Filch spoke in a hoarse voice. The rheumatic man with the hunched shoulders stared at her with bulging pale eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly in excitement.

"Oh dear, has something happened?", Lily asked him concerned.

"Somebody's been in the trophy room and stole one of the finest pieces! Heard them laughing! They must be lurking in a corner around here, they couldn't have come far, eh? Oh, I'll get them! They'll get expelled for stealing Hogwarts property! This Gnome Racing Championship Trophy is priceless!"

To Lily, this sounded heavily of a thing James and his friends would do as a joke.

"I can help you to look for the thieves, Mr. Filch! Are you sure you have heard multiple voices?"

"Oh yes, I am! But no need for help! I'll get them all alone, or I'll be damned! Want to be the one to see the look on their faces while being arrested!"

"Okay, if you are sure of it! But I will report about this in the morning!" Lily wasn't too keen on being the one to catch James and his gang out of bed and with the stolen item. However, considering that he had stood her up for this little stunt... No, she was better off continuing her rounds.

"Handcuffs,chains,whips... got them all in my office and ready for action!" She heard Filch muttering while leaving the scene of the crime.

As the end of her shift was nearing at 4 o'clock in the morning, Lily made her way back to the Head Common Room to get at least an hour or two of sleep before breakfast was to be served in the Great Hall. While walking through the six floor corridor, Lily suddenly started to feel as if she somehow wasn't alone in the dark and deserted hallway. "Probably just Peeves!", she mumbled to reassure herself. However, the feeling that something was amiss only grew stronger and Lily began to quicken her footsteps. Never before had she felt threatened or followed while patrolling the castle at night. This night, however, was different. She threw a quick glance over her left shoulder – nothing. Although she didn't want to admit it, Lily now really wished that Potter would have been there with her so that she wouldn't be all on her own. She heard something akin to a laugher behind her. Lily gathered her speed up to the edge of running – she didn't want to show too much fear by making a run for it. To her relief, the staircase began to show at the end of the hallway. She was just a few steps away from the seventh floor and the Head Tower where she would be in safety when she noticed something odd glinting on the stone floor.

"Mudbood of the year" was written in dark red letters on the sandstone paving tiles.

It looked like blood to Lily. She staggered.

Mudblood of the year. It had to be directed at her. No-one else was around, especially no other muggleborn. While Lily was still trying to decide what to think about the words shimmering sinisterly in the candlelight, she heard a loud swooshing noise. Before she could turn her head around enough to take a look behind her, Lily noticed a gleam of gold next to her right ear out of the corner of her eye. All the sudden, something very hard and solid hit her with force on her right temple. Lily felt a piercing pain in her head. Than everything went black.

James threw a blanket over the naked and now fast asleep Remus and laughed. "Every bloody time!" A few minutes before, Remus had finally turned back into his human form since the moon was down for that night at least. After the painful transformation, Remus had only looked at his three friends with big confused eyes, then stumbled to the old little bed in the middle of the room and instantly fell asleep.

"Knocked out could, like always!" Sirius, laughed. "Let's get back to the castle, guys, before everyone else is getting up!"

Animatedly discussing their adventures of the night, the tree boys made their way through the tunnel connecting the shrieking shack with the base of the whooping willow on the Hogwarts grounds. Peter poked the knot in the trunk with a branch to paralyse the deathly tree. Under James' invisibility cloak, they hurried towards the castle and kicked the little stone aside which they had planted to assure that the portal was open when they came back.

"That one time, Wormy, I thought that now you were busted! Brilliant idea to bite into Moony's nose! Never laughed so hard in all my life! It was hilarious to see Moony trying to shake you off!"

The three boys laughed in union about the recent anecdote.

"You should have heard yourself howl in laughter, Padfoot! Very... Hey, wait a moment!"

The three strays were walking through the sixth floor hallway, when they saw a queer shape on the ground directly in front of the staircase towards the seventh floor. They paused for a minute.

"Guys, what could that be?", Peter squealed a little with alarm.

"Seems to me that we'll have to take a look to find out!", Sirius exclaimed and marched ahead.

"C'mon Peter! It's probably just a piece of tapestry thrown there by Peeves to spite Filch!" James pulled his scared friend with him.

After a few steps, James began to notice the colour on one side of the shape on the floor. He instantly recognized the specific shade of red.

"Oh no!", he cried. "Oh no, Padfoot, I think it's Lily!"

James and Sirius looked at each other for a short moment and started to run as fast as they could.

James had been right. It was Lily lying on the ground with a pool of blood running down the right side of her face and clearly unconscious. "Or worse.", James thought in horror. Something was written just above her slumped figure in dark red writing. "Moodblood of the year". A large trophy was lying next to her, splattered with blood and shimmering eerily in the candle light.

"Gnome Racing Championship Trophy", mouthed Sirius silently to himself. "Do you think she got hit with that?"

James didn't hear him. He was on his knees beside her limp body. "Lily! Lily! Wake up! Please, wake up!"

"I'll go and fetch Madam Pomfrey!", said Sirius, clearly astonished by the gruesome sight before him. "Peter!", he croaked to the breathless boy who had just came to halt in front of the grotesque site due to problems with keeping in pace with his more athletic friends. "Go and wake up Professor McGonagall!"

James heard the others leave in a hurry but paid no attention to them.

"Please, Lily! Please wake up! I am so sorry! I should have been here with you!"

To James' despair, there was nothing he could say to make her open her eyes.

 **Thank you for taking the time to read my story! I would thank you even more if you made the effort to review!**

 **With love, Julia**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sadly enough, I am still not JKRowling! I hope you have a great day! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Lily blinked once. Than twice. Than she decided to keep her eyes closed. It was just so very bright out there, she felt blinded by all that whiteness surrounding her. Maybe she was dead and in heaven. That would explain where the light came from. But no, that couldn't be possible! She was on patrol duty for all she remembered. And then?

Lily scoured her brain for some clue to what had happened. She remembered something gold and somebody laughing and the writing. The blood red writing on the floor. "Mudblood of the year"!

Memories were rushing back into Lily's still dizzy head giving her the required resolve to finally open her eyes.

As a result, Lily was able to recognize her surroundings. She was lying in the hospital wing with white curtains enclosing her bed to shield her from prying eyes. Lily let out a breath in relief she didn't know she was holding. No, she clearly wasn't dead! The sun shining through the white fabric around her bed had played a trick with her still hurting head.

"Ow!", she winced, binging her hand to her temple.

Instantly, the curtains were drawn back with a quick and resolute pull and Madame Pomfrey was standing beside Lily's bed.

"Oh, thank God, you are awake!", the Matron exclaimed while clapping her hands together in front of her chest in a prayer-like manner. Not for the first time Lily noticed the resemblance between Madam Pomfrey and a nun. The matron's most striking feature was the white cloth in her hair similar to caps worn by British Nurses about a century ago which greatly resembled a nun's black and white habit.

"How long have I been asleep?", Lily asked in wonder while Madam Pomfrey pulled her eyelids up to examine her pupils.

"Not for that long, only for half a day! It is almost dinner time. Still, you have had me worried! I thought that you might have a brain haemorrhage! Luckily, it became apparent that your body only needed the time to rest and regenerate all the blood that you have lost which is why I didn't rennervate you the moment they brought you in! Well, then! I think some hearty food is in order!" Madam Pomfrey pulled her otoscope out of Lily's left ear and left her bedside.

Passed out for half a day! Lily couldn't believe it. She let her head sink into the fluffy cushion worrying about the amount of schoolwork she had missed that day. After a little while, Lily began to smile cynically to herself while feeling her temple again. School work! As if there weren't anymore urgent problems in her life right now. Oh, how she wished to be able to remembered who had attacked her. Being in the dark about the identity of her offender scared her a lot more than the attack itself.

James was sitting in the Headmaster's office thinking about the events of the night before while waiting for Professor Dumbledore to arrive. The news that Lily had been attacked had travelled fast through the student body and the teaching staff. At breakfast, the main topic was the newly elected "Mudblood of the year". By lunch, everyone seemed to know at least three of the many versions of what supposedly had happened the night before. People were constantly pressing James, Sirius and Peter for more information about Lily and the attack. Remus was luckily still in the hospital wing to recover from the latest full moon so that he wasn't bothered by intrusive inquirers. At dinner, James was ready to hit anyone who approached him about what had happened to Lily on the head with a Beater's bat. He was actually happy to see a plush Eurasian eagle-owl landing beside his almost empty plate and carrying a note from the Headmaster who wanted to see James in his office directly after dinner. The Nearly Headless Nick had been trying to tickle some first hand information out of him for the last 30 minutes and James exasperatedly disrupted the interrogation in order to leave early for his appointment with Dumbledore. Nick could be very persistent if he wanted to be. And that evening at dinner, Nick wanted nothing more than to be the first to spread the truth about the nightly attack through the entirety of the ghosts of Hogwarts.

"I'm sorry Nick, I have to go! It's urgent! The Headmaster calls! I'll talk to you tomorrow!", James said while storming out of the Great Hall leaving an unsatisfied Nick behind. He knew very well were to find the Headmaster's office due to a long history of mischief-making and made his way quickly towards the gargoyle on the third floor that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's private rooms. He muttered the password "Sugared Butterfly Wings" that Dumbledore had told him in the letter and stepped on the circular, moving stone staircase, which had been concealed by the gargoyle and was revealed after James had uttered the correct password.

The Headmaster's office was by far one of the most interesting rooms in the castle, thought James as he entered the circular room. There were many windows which allowed to overview the Hogwarts Grounds. A quite murmur was to be heard by the many portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, pointing at James and whispering. A large number of spindly tables upon which were set delicate looking silver instruments that whirred and emitted small puffs of smoke were placed at every possible part of the room. Even though James wasn't as impressed by books as knew Lily to be, he had to acknowledge the incredible collection of ancient volumes lined up on the various bookshelves making up Dumbledore's private library. Dumbledore himself was nowhere to be seen and James decided to sit down on the old red and blue chintz stool in front of the Headmaster's desk.

The minutes were ticking by and James felt more and more uncomfortable. He was er sure that Dumbledore would have a very serious talk with him. Sirius had fooled Professor McGonagall about the incident from the night before but James was quite certain that Dumbledore wouldn't believe their story about the three boys wanting their current Care of Magical Creatures project – freshwater plimpies – to have an early breakfast. While Professor McGonagall didn't seem to doubt the truth of Sirius' little story and didn't even ask why nobody else had thought it necessary to feed their plimpies at 6 o'clock in the morning, James was sure that Professor Dumbledore wasn't as easily fooled as their usually so strict but back then clearly shocked and very tired Head of House.

That moment, James heard a doorhandle being squeakily pushed down and saw the impressive figure of Professor Dumbledore entering trough a door behind a tapestry in the back of the circular office. Maybe Professor Dumbledore's living quarters were located behind that heavy oak door, James assumed.

The Headmaster made his way with long steps towards James and took his seat on the other side of the tabled without directing a word of greeting towards James. Instead, blue eyes were silently fixed on his face, making him even more uncomfortable.

"James, I see that once again you have found your way up here!" Professor Dumbledore smiled a little at James though it didn't quite reach his eyes. It was evident that the Headmaster wasn't happy with the young man in front of him.

"Yes, Professor, I have!", James answered after taking a deep breath. This time sitting in front of he headmaster's table felt different than the past times - more serious maybe.

"And do you know why I wanted you here?"

"I guess so. I didn't do my job as Head Boy as I was supposed to do."

"Yes, you didn't do as you were told! Still, this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about!"

"It isn't?" James exhaled in relief. Maybe Dumbledore wouldn't fire him as Head Boy. Maybe he believed in their story about the plimpies and had no idea about last night's stroll, however unlikely it was!

"Indeed, it isn't. To patrol the castle at night is an obligation coming with the position as Head Boy. You failed do do this task. Don't get me wrong, I am not happy about you neglecting your duties in order to spend time with your friends, as noble as the reason might be." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a little at that. He knew – James was sure about it. Dumbledore knew about their secret full moon outings.

"However, since the beginning of the school year, standing at Miss Evans' side is more than just an obligation to you. You were partnered up, maybe unwillingly, but for now on you are partners nonetheless. What you have to understand, James, is that being somebody's partner isn't an obligation – it is a pledge. A partner in the true sense of the word doesn't leave his counterpart to his own devices. And do you know why that is, James?"

James decided not to answer and just kept looking into Dumbledore's clear blue eyes.

"It is because real partners always have each other's back - no matter what. I hope you remember this the next time, James, and decide like the man I now you can be and not like the boy you once were. Be the partner Miss Evans deserves."

James had to take in a deep breath as he felt the truth of Dumbledore's words sink in. This speech of Dumbledore's had been different from all the others James had undergone before. Never before had the Headmaster seemed to be that disappointed in James.

"Yes, Sir!", he said in a slightly shaky but determined voice.

"Good. You might leave now."

On his way out of Dumbledore's office, James decided to go and visit Lily. An apology was very needed. But first, he decided to grab his broom for a quick fly around the Quidditch pitch to lose the sick feeling in his stomach. For the first time, he had really failed somebody. And it felt horrible.

Around dinner time, Lily got increasingly annoyed with being detained in the hospital wing. After receiving a headache potion from Madam Pomfrey, she felt revived and almost as good as new. She saw no reason to stay the night in the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't have any of it. Lily was to stay overnight, no exceptions made. She was very annoyed and lying on her side in the narrow and hard hospital bed with her arms crossed before her chest, when she heard a tapping noise on one of the windows near her bed. She looked up and saw a small brown owl sitting on he windowsill and waiting to be let in. She got up and tiptoed on the cold stone floor towards the window. The little owl instantly hopped in after Lily had opened the window as quietly as possible so that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't see her up and on her feet. The cold autumn air mad her shiver in her thin nightdress. A letter was bound on one of the owl's legs. Lily didn't recognize the winged letter carrier and thought it was most likely a school owl, but what she did recognize was the scribbled handwriting in which her name was written on the letter. It was from him – Severus!

Lily felt the excitement rushing in. She hadn't spoken to Severus since their awful encounter at the first prefect's meeting. On other occasions at subsequent prefect's meetings, Severus was the last to come and the first to go which denied Lily the opportunity to speak to him. Also, Severus took great care never to be partnered up with her for patrol duty. Most of the time she had to make her rounds with Potter anyway. It surprised Lily that he decided to contact her now of all times. She opened the letter quickly. It was very short.

" _Are you okay?"_

Nothing more. Lily didn't know what to make of it. Obviously, Severus knew that she had been attacked and was currently in the hospital wind. Maybe, in addition, he knew even more about the events of last night. More than Lily apprehended he knew.

Before she could decide on what to answer, the hospital wing door opened and Lily quickly jumped back into her bed. Madam Pomfrey would certainly come out of her room to see who the incoming visitor was. Hidden behind the white curtain, Lily could hear Madam Pomfrey's quick and purposeful footsteps.

"Yes, please, what can I do for you, my dear?", she asked.

"I am here to visit Miss Evans. Is she awake yet?" To Lily's shock, it was the voice of James Potter speaking. Lily quickly tucked Severus' letter underneath her pillow and ran her fingers through her hair to look at least a bit presentable.

"I don't think that Miss Evans is ready to receive visitors yet, I am sorry!"

"But I have her homework with me! I know Miss Evans would feel a lot better if she had her homework!"

Stupid Potter! Lily could hear the smirk in his voice. She was a little angry with herself for being that obvious a teacher's pet. She weighted her options and than decided for the lesser inconvenience.

"I would really like to have my homework!" She called from behind her curtain.

"I told you so!", James cheekily said to the displeased matron. Soon enough, Lily saw his head come through the thick white curtains.

"Hey there! How are you?", he asked, his charming grin fading at the sight of Lily sitting on her bed with a large bandage around her head.

"I think I'm okay!", Lily answered with a little smile. "Thanks for bringing my homework! You shouldn't have!"

"Oh yes! I should have! It was the least I could do considering the fact that I'm the one who brought you into this situation! I came to apologize to you for leaving you alone last night. The homework was only my guarantee that you would let me in!" James smiled sadly. The smile was very different from his usual confident grin. She thought that she had never before seen him so sincerely remorseful.

"It's fine, Potter!" James only raised an eyebrow at that statement coming from Lily. "No, honestly, it is! It wasn't your fault. I wouldn't say that I was expecting something like this, but to be honest, I guess that's life for us muggleborns!"

James stared at Lily in bewilderment. "Evans! That's totally stupid! Why would you say something like that?"

"Because that is how things for me or people like me stand! Granted, the whole display was gruesome with me being pictured as "Mudblood of the year" but the thoughts behind it are nothing new to me!" Lily pressed her cumpled-up bed cover against her stomach. It was true that she was by then accustomed to defamation and hatred because of her ancestry.

"But Evans, are you seroiuous? I thought it was the first time that something like this has happened! I would have never left you on your own if I had known that things like this come to pass!"

"Oh, it was the first time, don't fret yourself! At least here in Hogwarts. In school, all muggleborns are under the special protection of Professor Dumbledore. Everyone knows that and most don't dare to do something more to express their views than to hide flubberworms in my school bag or to talk spitefully behind my back when they think I can't hear them. Outside of school, things are different. I've noticed the change in peoples' behaviour towards me last summer. It was really hard for me to find a job. People don't like to openly associate with muggleborns anymore and most don't care to hide it!"

After her little speech, James took a seat at the other end of the bed and sighed.

"Honestly, Evans, I had no idea and I am sorry for it! I always though it was just a bunch of elite nutters promoting their antiquated views! I didn't know that people were actually affected by that!"

"Yeah, well, now you've seen that we are!", Lily answered sadly.

James was quite for a while. He seemed to be thinking about something rather intensely. Suddenly, he turned around to face Lily. His old confident grin was back.

"We should do something about this, Evans! We really should!"

"And what do you have in mind?", Lily asked, somehow sure that whatever he had came up with wouldn't please her too much.

"I want to get some people together to let these nitwits know that there are others who don't agree with them. We could organise some kind of society that would meet once a week and plan some practical jokes against those stupid enough to stand behind the discrimination of muggleborns!"

"That sounds like an advanced version of the marauders!", Lily laughed at the notion. That was exactly what she needed, even more people making trouble and her having to deal with it.

"Don't make fun of the idea, Evans! I mean it! We would call ourselves something like "alliance contra absolute brutishness" and for short "A.C.A.."

"Okay, stop right there, Potter!" Lily simply had to interrupt him, but silently she was laughing to herself. If James knew the muggle meaning of the short form, he would probably demand the name out of sheer delight in being a little anarchic. "I don't think that this abbreviation is very suitable! I'll explain later, it a muggle thing!", Lily said to answer James' questioning look.

"Well, I'll gladly let you decide our name if that means you are taking part in this!" James moved a little nearer towards her on the hospital bed.

"I think that we could really make a difference, Evans!" By then he was right in front of her, gazing directly into her eyes. Lily wanted to deny it but couldn't – his expression made her stir from her resolve. James clearly couldn't be discouraged from putting his most recent idea into action. Maybe it was indeed a good idea, not least to keep an eye on him.

"But why would you want to make a difference? You are not affected in any way! You are a pureblood, Potter!" James looked a bit offended by that statement.

"This has nothing to do with me or the way I am affected or not. I might have been obvious before but now that I now the extant of what is going on – now that I've seen it with my own eyes only last night – I can't just look away! This world you are living in is my world too, you know? And I want it to be a better world! I don't want to be part of a world were you or people like you aren't accepted!" Lily felt very uncomfortable because of the open-hearted statement. James, too, didn't know what to say and was mad himself for speaking out before thinking it through.

"Such great words, coming from you Potter! I'm impressed!", Lily laughed to overcome the slightly awkward silence.

"Okay, then! I'm in!", she said.

"Really? Are you sure?", James asked in disbelieve.

"Yes, I am! But I want to be treasurer!"

James stared at Lily, not sure if she was serious or making fun of him.

Lily started to laugh at all her heart because of the dumbfounded and comical looking expression on James' face until Madam Pomfrey chucked him out on his ear for exciting her patient.

 **Thank you all for the encouraging reviews! I hope to hear your oppinion on this chapter!**

 **With the best wishes, Julia**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello to everyone! I am so sorry for abandoning this story for that long. My only excuse is that I was quite ill for the last eight month and had difficulties keeping on top of my studies which resulted in me neglecting my little favourite hobby – writing. I hope you still enjoy the new chapter!**

 **As always, JKRowling gets most of the credit!**

Chapter 6

The next morning, Lily was released from the hospital wing. Her list of things to do for that day was very long and she had no time to spare. She needed to talk to every teacher about what she had missed in class, homework screamed for her attention, her Head Duties wouldn't be neglected any longer, her friends were desperately waiting to hear her explanation on what had happened and she hadn't even answered Severus' letter. But first things first she needed to go to the Great Hall to have some real food for the meals served by Madam Pomfrey were very healthy but not tasty at all.

The moment Lily opened the winged doors of the Great Hall, she knew that something wasn't right. People were staring at her and whispering. Of cause, she was prepared for prying looks on her first day back, but the attention she attracted that morning was different from normal curiosity. Lily thought that the whole Great Hall seemed to have tensed up with her entering. Hostility was in the air and she didn't know why. Lily tried to walk upright as she made her way towards the Gryffindor table while scanning the black mass of students for her friend Marlene. She sighed in relief as she finally viewed Marlene's blond locks and quickened her steps to leave the focus of attention in the centre aisle and submerge on the bench next to her classmates.

"Lily! I'm so glad to see you! You had me so worried! I wanted to see myself if you were okay, but Madam Pomfrey didn't let me in!", Marlene started babbling immediately.

"Okay, okay, slow down!", Lily laughed. "I'm fine, thank you! Glad to see a friendly face but fine nevertheless!"

"Oh, Lily, you have to tell me what has happened immediately! I've been dying to know the truth! Everybody is talking about the attack on you and everyone is telling a different story! You wouldn't believe with what kind of ideas people come up with!"

"Oh well, fine! Listen..." Quietly, Lily told Marlene everything she remembered of that fateful night, even though it wasn't very much.

"And you really have no idea who hit you on the head with that trophy? Not at all?", Marlene asked in disbelieve. Lily only shook her head.

"I wish I had, but no, sadly, I am quite clueless!"

"Good thing than, Evans, that a fault confessed is half redressed!"

Lily mentally rolled her eyes as Sirius squeezed himself between Marlene and her.

"Good morning to you too, Black!", she replied sarcastically. Her headache from the day before was certainly better, but not well enough to tolerate a conversation with Sirius Black.

"A lovely morning it is, next to two such beautiful creatures!" Sirius winked a little at Marlene on his left, who couldn't help but blush beet red.

"Save the intro, Black! Why did you really come over here? To sweeten our morning?", Lily asked him annoyed that even her best friend was affected by him.

"Evans, why so surprised?", Sirius asked while flashing is most ironic smirk at Lily. "I just wanted to remind you, that I too, was there to find you! And while my dear friends were either too occupied by fearing for your life or wetting their pants, I kept my mind and noticed a few things!"

Lily abruptly turned towards him, now interested. "And these things would be?"

"First of all, you were clearly attacked from behind which hints that the ominous assailant is a stupid coward. Secondly, to underline this assumption, you weren't magically attacked. Or at least not in the truest sense of the word. Someone seemed to fear a duel with you and might not have outstanding magical abilities which is why he or she chose to to just levitate something heavy to hit you with instead of restoring to actual curses that require more skill than just our basic levitation spell. First-years can do that! However, the scene created with you under the blood writing in the candlelight with a trophy given to you for being "Mudblood of the year" suggests something entirely different. I think, that more people participated in this scheme against you! Someone more clever with a wicked sense of creating a show and others to actually follow through with the plan . Others more rough and not that clever!"

Lily only looked at him, stunned.

"Well, that was it! Nothing more to tell from my part! I'll leave you ladies to finish your breakfast. Bon appétit!"

"Well...thanks!", Lily called after Sirius, who was already halfway towards the exit doors.

"What on earth was that?", Marlene asked Lily incredulously, a spoon still loaded with now cold porridge in her hand.

"That was quite insightful, if nothing else!" Lily quietly shook her head, not sure what to make out of the new information. Sirius theories sounded reasonable enough, though. Still, she didn't quite like the idea of more than one person trying to get to her.

"Lily, do you think he is right?", Marlene asked her fearfully, her big blue eyes opened wide in terror.

"He might have a point. I don't know. If I'm honest, I don't want to know. I should probably stop walking around the castle alone in the middle of the night. Otherwise, I think it's best to keep a cool head."

Lily sighted an turned towards Marlene, staring directly into her friend's eyes. "Marlene, you have to promise me something! Don't tell anybody about what I've told you and about Sirius' little theories! People are talking enough about this as it is!"

"Of cause, Lily, I promise!", Marlene sweetly answered like the true friend that she was.

"Good! Now, let's finish breakfast before it vanishes!", said Lily before helping herself to another pancake.

James was sitting in his usual chair behind Sirius in the Transfiguration Classroom and tapping the tabletop nervously.

"Do you mind, Prongs?", Remus asked from behind. "It's quite hard to concentrate with you making this annoying noise. I'd like to finish this essay before McGonagall arrives!"

"Sure thing, Moony!", James answered in a false cheery tone. He stopped tapping the table and moved on to twitching with his leg. He was anxious for Lily to arrive. They hadn't seen each other since his visit to the Hospital Wing and he wasn't sure if she had changed her mind about their plans to go into resistance.

One after another, his classmates arrived, but Lily was not among them. Maybe she wasn't feeling well enough after all, James wondered as the minutes were ticking by. However, the moment Professor McGonagall entered the classroom through the small door behind the professor's desk, Lily came stumbling into the room out of breath. She fell into her chair and flashed a small smile towards James when she noticed him watching her unpack her books and quills. James returned her smile relieved to see her sound and in a good mood. He'd have to talk to her after class.

"Lily! Hey, Lily, wait!", called the voice of James Potter behind her. "Are you running from somebody or what?", he asked as he drew level with her in the hallway after class.

Lily bit her tongue to stop herself from making a snide remark about him being the only one who was constantly haunting her. After all, they had agreed on a peace treaty and she didn't want to be the one to blame for breaking it.

"Not, I'm just quite busy today!", Lily answered. In fact, she was about to visit Professor Slughorn to ask him about the latest potion essay.

"Can I do something for you?", she asked a little impatiently.

James ran his fingers through his thick dark hair. Why did she have to make him that nervous? She was always staring relentlessly in his face! Lily Evans was the only one who could make James drop his gaze.

"I just wanted to ask if you're still in on it!", he mumbled disgruntled.

"Still in on what?", Lily asked in confusion.

"Still in on our plan! You know what I mean...! Our plan of going into resistance!" James looked at her expectantly.

"James! Don't shout it through the hallway!", Lily exclaimed with realisation. Truth to be told, she hadn't thought much about their latest talk in the hospital wing. Lily had taken James idea for not much more than a result of the heat of the moment. She was impressed that he actually wanted to see it trough.

"If you're still in on it, I guess that I am, too!" Lily took James by his arm and led him into a quiet corner behind the sculpture of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor.

"But if we really want to do this, we should do it right!", she whispered in fear of being overheard by the wrong person. "We need to organize meetings, plan further steps and first of all find someone beside the two of us who is willing to participate in what we have in mind!"

"Wohh, Lily, slow down!" said James while smiling to himself. She was overdoing it, as always. He really liked that about her. James noticed her hand still resting on his lower arm. The flesh beneath the little white fingers burned hot with her touch.

"I think that the Head Tower would do for the beginning! And speaking of others – we should probably keep it small at first and only ask people to join who we can really trust!" He was looking at her sternly. Lily being Lily, he was scared that she decided do invite Snape of all people. Sill, it was difficult for James not to be infected by her sudden excitement. However, one of them had to be the sensible one. It seemed that today – for the first time ever – it was James' turn.

"Meaning you only want it to be the Marauders, you and me? Fantastic, I can hardly wait for our first meeting!"

Lily still remembered the last Transfiguartion group project she had to do with Black as her partner. It had been a total disaster with him contributing nothing but his charming presence.

Lily crossed her arms in-front of her chest and raised one eyebrow. James thought that nobody should look this cute while being annoyed.

"Of cause not! You could ask Marlene and Alice! And Frank! No need to be intimidated by our mischievous presence!"

Lily observed him quietly for a moment, clearly weighing his proposal.

"Well, Potter..."

"James!"

"Well, James, I'll talk to them about it! But I really have to go now! See you tonight!"

See you tonight - James thought that he had never heard anything sounding quite as alluring as he watched her breaking her way fleet-footed through the crowded hallway.

 **I hope you liked the new chapter! I would be very very happy if you chose to leave a review!**

 **Lots of love and greetings,**

 **Julia**


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